Urge DHS/FEMA to Protect Safety of All During Disasters
A message from the National Immigration Law Center:
Dear Friends,
Today marks the official start of the 2009 hurricane season. 2008 hurricanes and other recent disasters have demonstrated the need for the government to provide assurance to immigrants that they may participate in emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery efforts without fear that they will be targeted with immigration enforcement. Such a policy is necessary on humanitarian grounds but is also needed to protect broader public safety and to safeguard rescuers. Organizations in New Orleans and South Texas have written to DHS seeking a standing policy directive that builds upon and formalizes the progress made toward the end of last year’s hurricane season, but have yet to receive a formal response. Please support these important efforts by signing on to this national, state, and local organizational sign-on letter by this Friday, June 5, at 1pm ET.
Click here for the sign on link.
If you have any questions please contact Jon Blazer at blazer@nilc.org.
June 5, 2009
Janet Napolitano, Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC 20528
Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency
P.O. Box 10055
Hyattsville, MD 20782-7055
Via facsimile and email
RE: Request for Policy Directive on Immigrants and Emergency Response
Dear Secretary Napolitano and Administrator Fugate:
The nation depends on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to lead the country through future emergencies, whether they come from natural disasters, health pandemics, or other threats to our safety.
To ensure that the protection of public safety and human life takes absolute priority in times of emergency, we respectfully call on DHS to issue a standing, written policy directive making clear that immigration enforcement shall not be undertaken in association with any phase of emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery.
The official start of the hurricane season began this week. If DHS acts now, it has the ability to help the nation avoid a potential crisis. The preservation of human life and promotion of public safety depends on maximizing the participation and compliance of all community members in emergency preparedness, relief and recovery efforts. Yet fear and confusion in local communities regarding immigration enforcement during emergency response undermines our nation’s preparedness.
We have seen in recent disasters that many immigrants are afraid to come forward to receive assistance when disaster strikes; indeed many immigrants are fearful of evacuating in the first place, worried that in doing so will put them or their family members at risk of immigration enforcement. In fact, all local community members stand to suffer the consequences of a failure to disassociate disaster-response activities from immigration enforcement. For example, during a hurricane evacuation in South Texas, all residents would be trapped in traffic jams at immigration checkpoints. Community leaders there sent a letter detailing this situation on May 12, 2009, requesting a formal response prior to the official start of hurricane season on June 1. A broad range of national organizations still await a response to a letter sent to DHS under the prior Administration on September 9, 2008.
During the course of the 2008 hurricane season, DHS made some helpful progress on this issue, for example by releasing a statement to the press that no immigration enforcement would be undertaken in association with evacuation and sheltering operations. However, the prior administration handled the issue on an ad hoc basis, sometimes too late to be truly effective.
A clear policy directive is needed, making clear that immigration enforcement shall not be undertaken in association with any phase of emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery. The most effective policy would also state clearly that FEMA shall protect the confidentiality of information obtained from disaster victims in the course of providing humanitarian assistance, so that individuals may seek assistance from FEMA without fear that it will be used for enforcement purposes by ICE. With a policy directive in hand, we can join the effort to educate community members and reassure the populace that evacuation and rescue efforts can proceed in a safe and orderly manner.
Given that the 2009 hurricane season is now officially under way, we respectfully request your earliest response.
Sincerely,
bh